Greeting Fellow Club Members!

 

I am excited about this next year! It was my plan to become more involved with the Club in 2013 and run for President next year...but circumstances had another plan for us. I will give a formal introduction at our first meeting on January 14th at Parnell Park so please plan on attending. I have some goals for myself and the club over the next year and will cover those at the meeting, but here is a taste of what to expect...

 

First and foremost I want to build the Club membership! We have a huge capacity to give back to eachother and our Communities, but we can't do it without people! I'll be asking you to reach out to friends to encourage them to join and want to put a small Membership Committee together to go out and snatch up the newly licensed Amateurs in our communities! I'll help get you started and we can start building out membership!

 

We are an Amateur Radio Club and therefore it makes sense we play with radios as often as possible! I have always said that there are MANY facets to Amateur radio. Some will like contesting...some will not. Others will like to climb towers and build antennas. I'd like to learn more about some of the digital modes and SlowScan TV. Maybe you have a desire to learn more about certain aspects of Amateur radio! We'll share these with eachother and bring in the experts to teach us! As a Club, it is also safe to say that we are a SOCIAL group! So we will get together to have fun! This will include trips, outings, parties, etc! I remember when clubs would have annual pool parties! Not every event will be for every person, but everyone will be invited and wanted to participate!

 

As a matter of fact, there is going to be a Club Antenna Party at Don and Vi's in February! I will be removing all of their antennas and tower and it would be great to have anyone who is interested in learning more about antennas and towers to be on hand. Some may not be able to help for one reason or another. Some may just want to watch! There may be a couple who want to strap on a belt and climb the tower with me and learn my trade! I'll also need a couple capable ground people and still more to properly disassemble the antennas! No prior knowledge necessary! What a perfect opportunity to learn! Whatever your level of participation, it won't be a party without you! We'll pass the hat and send someone to go pick up lunch or have pizza delivered! Maybe someone would like to organize the food for this event...please let me know!!!

 

In September we will have our Antenna Expo! We will be inviting the whole Amateur radio community to come! We will need all hands to accommodate our guests! More on this as the year goes along.

 

The Club has a long standing commitment with the City of Whittier to provide Emergency Communications (EMCOMM). We will get everyone who is interested in volunteering to trained in Disaster Communications. This will also help us as we strengthen our relationship and operations with the ARRL LAX Section ARES organization. We need to be effective communicators and proper training will make us qualified to fill this roll.

 

I've been asked by a few club members about our repeater system. While some aspects of any repeater system are kept confidential for obvious reasons, there is still much a Club can do to participate in its maintenance and upkeep. I'll be working directly with Joe, W6UPN who is our Technical Committee Chairman and maintains our repeater system, to find out what is needed on the hill and what we as a club can to to support him! We'll work on the low ID audio too!

 

We have a new e-mail system and Facebook page which will also help us communicate better and more securely as well as recruit new members!

 

We'll touch on all of this and more at the Club meeting! Please try to be there and I look forward to seeing everyone there!